Yesterday, we had the baptism of Rodrigo, our best investigator! The one who grew up a Jehovah´s Witness, but was looking for more, and he found it! 

It was such a good service.  He was originally supposed to be baptized on the 4th of May, but he is going to be out of town that day, but he was so ready and wanted top be baptized sooner, so we asked permission from the bishop, and we literally planned it, and worked out all the details in one day! It was really a miracle, and we realized that we had only been teaching him for three and a half weeks before he got baptized.  But the whole service was great,  we actually for got to turn the water on and start filling up the font (it takes three hours more or less), we started it only an hour before!...so we had the faucet running, and a hose from outside, and we were dumping buckets of water in the font...and we had it filled in an hour, which was perfect.  And today is the last day of our cycle, so we go to end our cycle with a baptism. Rodrigo is so spiritual, and he really put in a lot of effort to study and pray and gain a testimony for himself, he really is an inspiration.  And during the whole program he was crying, happy tears :) My companion and I sang How Great Thou Art in Spanish, and I couldn't look at him while we were singing because I would have cried lol.  It was such a blessing a a testimony strengthener that the Lord prepares people to accept the gospel.  Because really, Rodrigo found us, we weren't even looking at the time, he just came up and talked to us, but the Lord put us and him in the right place at the right time.  This really is the work of salvation and I love being a missionary.  Although, we may not see immediate success (such as Rodrigo) all the time, I have hope that we may effect the lives of many people for years to come.  And I invite all of you reading this to share the gospel with someone, even in a small way. Because by small and simple things are great things brought to pass :).  

Pictures:

Rodrigo is the one in the tie, and Mosiah baptized him (he is a member in our ward who just returned from his mission in chile) the others are the elders, a few members from our ward and Hermana Lovell and Hermana Campbell from anther district.  

SO as far as the Skype thing, we are allowed to choose either the 10th or the 11th of may to Skype and we will organize with a member when and where.  So basically we cant organize anything until we know whether or not we will stay in this area...we will find out sometime today if we are staying or not, and then we can plan...so next Monday I will let you know the details of what time and what day we can Skype...and I'm assuming we will be using the Skype of a member, so I will have to know your Skype info in order to get a hold of you.  And we get one hour to Skype. I would like to talk to you the most of course, but you can invite others too please, like Grandma and Bapa and Jill, Joelle, or other family members.  Hope you are all doing well and are happy! 

Love you! talk to you next week!

Earthquake

Haha, well...my companion and I were studying Friday morning, and while I was reading I started to feel a little dizzy, and I told my companion and then she was like ¨whoa¨ and then we realized it was an earthquake....it wasn't too bad it just felt like we were on a ship in the sea.  At first we got under our desks, but nothing was falling so we figured we were fine, so we looked outside (our apartment is on the third floor) and all of our neighbors were standing in their doorways...so we just did that too assuming that that was probably what you´re supposed to do haha. And then it just stopped and we were fine, nothing even fell over or anything...mostly it was kind of cool.  And then our district leaders called us to make sure we were fine and yeah...it wasn't too bad, I think it was worse in other parts but I don't really know because I don't watch the news.  So yeah, no need to worry, I am still in one piece.  Easter was good, we didn't really do any thing to celebrate, in church we talked about the resurrection and me and my companion taught the gospel principles class about The Atonement.  Then we ate at a member´s house...just normal, no hard boiled eggs or ham or funeral potatoes, but it was good. And we took one of our investigators (Rodrigo, the Jehovah´s Witness) to the visitors center, he is getting baptized in two weeks! We were basically at the visitors center for half of the day yesterday because after we gave him a tour...and he likes to talk a lot...there was a program for investigators and recent converts, and the hermanas sang and the mission president talked and some recent converts bore their testimonies, it was really good, and Rodrigo enjoyed it.  One of the recent converts was one of Hermana Contreras and mine before I got transferred, he was baptized three weeks ago I think.  Rodrigo is a golden investigator, he studies so much and has really felt the spirit, he prays and comes to church and keeps his commitments.  One Saturday we taught him and one of the members in our ward came with us (he just recently got back from his mission in Chile) and we taught him about the plan of salvation and also helped him to realize the he already has received his answer that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, and I asked him if he would be baptized and he he just slowly nodded his head and looked so happy and peaceful, and really the spirit was so strong and we were all so happy...that was by far the most rewarding and happy moment yet on my mission.  And tonight we are having a family home evening with one of the families in our ward, and they invited a few of our investigators and some investigators of the elders, I´m excited it should be fun.  Well this week is the last week of the cycle, and I really am hoping my companion and I stay because we have a baptism lined up for every week next month, and we have a lot of work to do to keep up with our investigators and help them to progress, granted if we do get transferred, I´m sure the new missionaries will do great too...but that would be hard because I would miss this ward and my our investigators...one cycle isn't enough.  But I think we will stay.  Anyways yeah, I'm doing good, all is well.  

Tell Ty and Jessica I said felicidades.  I haven't gotten the package yet...it will most likely be a couple more weeks...letters take a month, so I think packages would take at least that long or more.  Tell Emily to make sure to send me pictures when she gets married.  

Okay Love you, have a good week.

P.S. and mothers day is on the 9th I believe, we are allowed to use skype at a members house,  I don't know the details yet, but this will be after cambios...so we cant arrange plans yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out.  

Love, Mariah 

Wow! Way to go Kenyan! That is so impressive! I can´t even score one goal in soccer lol.  Keep up the good work! Our investigators are still progressing, the family didn't come to church yesterday though so we have to move their baptismal date one week...but they are doing good.  The man we met in the internet cafe is still doing good and he has been coming to church so that is great, we still don't have a baptism date set for him, he is slightly reluctant to leave his religion ...he has been preparing to become Jehovah´s Witness...but I really think that as he keeps reading the Book of Mormon and if he really prays sincerely, he will know what he needs to do, we are visiting him tomorrow.  

Wow, yeah, Mothers Day is right around the corner! I'm actually not sure...I think it will be in the computer at a members house. I'll find out and let you know.  

This past week was good, we had exchanges twice and also twice again this week...my companion is the sister coordinator so she has to visit the other sisters in their areas, and their companions come and stay with me :) it's pretty fun. 

I am excited for Easter, this is a special time to remember our Savior and His atonement, and His resurrection! Hope you all have a wonderful Easter!  

pictures

Weekly Email

 Yes, thank goodness I feel much better now, the medicine just killed everything I hope.  And yes, me and my companion are working well together...as we practice and have a solid plan things go much smoother and the spirit is much stronger.  Well, we have a few investigators with baptism dates! One is a young girl who is 20; a woman in our ward gave us her moms address as a reference. We taught the mom once, but she wasn't/isn't really interested.  Then we went back and her daughter and son were there and not her, so we taught them and the daughter is the one who really has an interest, we taught her the first three lessons and she went to conference on Saturday, we set a baptismal date for her for the 4th of may...her mom doesn't want her to get baptized though, so that is our obstacle. And the woman, and her husband (well..boy friend), and 6 year old son, have a date set for the 27th, but they need to get married first, so I'm hoping that works out without too many issues, because they really want to get baptized.  Also, we met a man in the internet cafe last week, he is preparing/investigating to become a Jehovah's Witness, he came up to us and was asking some questions and seemed really interested in learning more...we taught him once, and then he went to all of the sessions of conference! The Elders in our ward went with him to the priesthood session too and afterwards he just said ¨wow¨...haha I think he definitely felt the spirit, and we taught him another lesson and hopefully he will progress more.  Also, today is my companions birthday, so we came to the visitors center for a zone activity in our old zone, we played volleyball and water balloon volleyball, and then went to a taco restaurant and ate cake...and my ex compañera told me that one of our investigators is getting baptized in 2 weeks and...I was so happy because another one of our investigators who is 18 and was kind of stubborn finally got baptized yesterday!! Anyways, all is good and I'm enjoying my area. Sounds like you are all having fun.  I don't know of anyone having packages ransacked, but it always possible I guess, but hopefully not likely. I do know that it takes forever though for them to get here...like a month.  Oh wow, Brian comes home already...time flies so fast.  I only have 2 months but it feels shorter.  And the weather is for sure HOT, but its not intolerable.  

We watched conference in the stake center (in Moctezuma) and we had to watch it in Spanish (a new rule)...but I really think I learned a lot and understood mostly all of it! I liked all of the talks, but especially Elder Uchdorf´s (now keep in mind that I watched this all in Spanish, so feel free to be impressed).  He talked about gratitude, and how we should always recognize the blessing from God in our lives.  Even in times of difficult trials and afflictions, we are still receiving blessings- always be grateful for these.   Do not dwell on the things that you lack, but be grateful for all that you have.  And in times of pain, and in all times, rely on the atonement of Jesus Christ, because this is central in Gods plan for us.  With eyes of faith, we can see far beyond our difficulties- and hope for things that we cannot see, with a conviction that they are true.  Gratitude is a manifestation of faith in God´s plan that we each chose personally before we came to the Earth.  Remember His plan and that we are made of eternal material.  And accept each day with gratitude. 

and I attached some pics of my apartment, and the last one is today at the restaurant with (from left to right) Me, hna Izaguirre, hna Fowler, Hna Medwin (mi compañera)

Parasites!

Well, this week has been very good...hmm what can I say?. Well I'm loving my area, the members are very loving and willing to come with us to lessons, which is awesome and really helps.  Oh and my stomach started hurting in the middle of the night on Wednesday, it was like a sharp pain in the middle of my stomach that would build up slowly and hurt really bad, and then go away, and then start again.  We tried to still go out but ended up going back home because it was really hurting.  We called the mission presidents wife, and she said to call the doctor, we ended up having to go to the visitors center because my companion had a meeting the next day, and I went to the doctors while I was there...and his conclusion was that I had parasites! I don't know how I got them, but we eat at member´s houses everyday...so that's possible.  Anyway, he prescribed me something for the pain and something to kill the parasites, and I guess it worked because I feel completely better now.  But yeah, that was fun.  I feel like my language abilities are improving a lot and I'm able to understand much better. 

Chad emailed me, it sounds like he is loving Argentina, its green and tropical, and he likes his companion...and he already had 2 baptisms in his first week there, and he said the kids follow him because he is so tall, how fun! I still haven't had a baptism :( ...but we have an investigator who is really great, and she came to church yesterday with her husband and her son! and we are going to teach her twice this week and go to the visitors center with her! So hopefully she will be able to get baptized soon!  Oh and we finally got hot water this week! So showering is much nicer, our apartment is not super nice or anything but it has everything we need, and yes, I feel safe here, we have to be in my 8 every night.  It has been really hot during the day and then rainy in the afternoon, night time, and lots of thunder, which I love! Its amazing being a missionary, because we have had a few times this last week, when we are on our way to an appointment or something, not even particularly looking for people to talk to, when they seek us out and start talking to us and ask us to come teach them! It always surprises me, but its so great! 

Anyways, it sounds like you are all having fun! But yeah, a mission is worth it, sometimes it is hard and I'm discouraged, but I remember my purpose here and just have faith.  

Okay love you!... Until next week